- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 24w ago
A moment of strength
Share a moment you realized you were stronger than OCD.
Share a moment you realized you were stronger than OCD.
When I packed my clothes and left a toxic marriage
Happy for you!!!
Please tell me you didnt had rocd
@christiesmith974 Congrats, that’s incredible!
@Nicola$ Hehe
@christiesmith974 I am so proud of you and so happy you left.
getting out of bed today.
@Anonymous Even one step in a healthy direction is strength in action. Thank you for your inspiration.
Small steps! Nice job!
As long I am alive I will be stronger
@🌊Anonymous🌊 We are here to be strong with you❤️
When i got in the train although my ocd triggered me to stay
Amazing!
When I started to feel compassion towards myself. I realized I wasn’t a monster and my brain is just trying its best to protect me.
@Buttercupz Can you explain the part about your brain trying to protect you? I’ve come to hate my brain!
@Anonymous Your brain is always looking for a threat but there aren’t no threats. It’s trying to protect you and causes you to obsess and get anxious because your brain thinks you’re in danger. It’s basically working overtime. In the past we had to protect ourselves from predators and we were constantly looking out for threats. Nowadays that’s not needed but our brains do not know that so we think we are either a threat, will be a threat, or others are threats.
is this true?
When I started therapy today.
realizing if i’m scared of doing something bad, that im in control and don’t have to do it
When I started to achieve goals I felt like I would never be able to achieve. Also when I started enjoying simple hobbies like reading again.
When I began not fling all the compulsions and instead doing something else not related at all to ocd. Yay! I am stronger than ocd but I have to keep on doing what I have been doing plus do more exposures.
I use to love reading. It's hard now at times
@Misstama65 I used to feel like that too. It's so difficult when OCD stops us from doing the things we love. Just know you are so strong for fighting OCD every day.
I don't even know if if I can say I'm stronger than my ocd, but my purpose is.
@Wolfram 🫶🏻
@Wolfram Your strength over OCD is inherently there - even if you feel you dont know it or doubt it.
!!!!!
i let things be normal instead of fixating on things i couldn’t control in attempt to make it all perfect and i was finally able to breathe
@aubslovesu I may not know you but im proud of you
Let's gooooo! Love this!
When I was so tried that I couldn't go through with my ocd ritual I went on and went to bed
When I learned how to accept uncertainty! You got this!
@Dylan S. Uncertainty is a part of life but it is a certainty you are more than OCD and that it cannot keep your innate strength suppressed
@Anonymous Well said! 👏👏
Nice!!!
When I accepted that my intrusive thoughts 💭 didn’t define me as a person and helped reduce my shame .
When I got out of bed today
I told my boyfriend no to coming over! It wasn’t a good time for me, and I was able to overcome my fear he would be upset with me for it!
I gave into the thoughts and asked “so what”, laughing at the OCD. “Bring it on” I said
after keeping quiet about my symptoms for a year (i convinced myself no one would believe me) i finally got the courage to speak to my doctor the other day. now im here!
Every day, I convince myself of the radical notion that I am worth something. My sense of worthlessness can be paralyzing. I have to believe I am worth something to continue pursuing my dreams and going to music school. My ambition requires the shedding and facing of fears.
Catching onto new themes before they consume me! And having my boyfriend + mom help me resist compulsions and support me.
So happy for you!!! May I ask now they helped you with not doing the compulsions?
@Anonymous - Sure! If I start to ask questions that they know are OCD because they aren't valid, don't make sense, or seem to match a pre-existing theme, they say something like "I'm not answering that" or change the subject
@olive444 Great job! It's empowering to tell OCD "No thanks!" and your are capable of doing this again and again
Never underestimate the power of having a strong support system!
I got out of bed.
@tlaaron Thank you for being you 🫶🏻
I'm currently in a spiral, not looking good but I know I just know it's all lies
When I enjoyed actually enjoyed a weekend alone and was able to sleep peacefully through the night when I’ve been struggling being away from my bf and sleeping by myself.
Whenever I’m hungry. My ocd tells me food is dirty, but my hunger conquers it 🌮.
When I was able to stay free of any symptoms for a whole 2 years before having another flare up!
I've gone years! I know I can conquer this relapse!
@Misstama65 We got this!!
When started overcoming it and doing things I would do if I did not have ocd. I feel the lack of anxiety is so relieving and is such a good reward for treating my OCD is really affected my life greatly.
@Brooke cookie I started to feel this way too!! So happy for you.
When I did what my brain didn’t want but I wanted it
When I felt the fear of touching someone inappropriately in a crowded place, I faced my fear and went out clubbing with my friends and I did good!
When I left the house for the first after two and a half months and went shopping. It was the most liberating feeling ever! I will never forget it!
When I realized I was not the only one having these crazy intrusive thoughts. People were literally saying my exact thoughts out loud from them having them themselves
That was pretty helpful tome also
I had a dream about kissing someone and I didn’t have a spiral trying to decipher it
THIS!
Every day when I get ready to start my classes with my students
@jessiemc Your strength is developing a new generation of strong future adults. Thank you for your service!
Thank you for teaching our future leaders. You're doing SO much.
When I could sit with the thoughts.
everyday when I finish my task (work, school, long day I was dreading) I feel so proud of myself for conquering the day and my thoughts.
When I pushed through anxiety to have a fun romantic weekend with my partner 💕
from a nighttime routine that would take me hours to no nighttime routine 😼
@vivi ! i love this
When I had 3 “let’s see if we can keep you awake” games going at once and I still took a 2-hour nap.
Having my boyfriend come visit me at home and meet my family! He’s coming in a few weeks! Don’t get me wrong my mind is going 🔄 and I’m scared for how I’m going to feel when he’s here but im determined to not let ROCD win
The random moments where my will to do something was out of something I wanted to do, not my fears 💪
My ability to give it another try- despite the odds!
When I had the same intrusive thought that was making me miserable, but this time I was in control and did not do the mental compulsion. My stress and anxiety have dropped tremendously.
When I decided to stop a long-term compulsive habit despite OCD telling me it was impossible to do
@Theocdguitarist How did you do it?!!!
@1000anonymous1000 honestly, it took a lot of patience and grace with myself. I had to keep trying and finding ways to redirect my attention and introduce healthier habits into my life. little by little, things got better
When I realized that the OCD is a liar.
Did a technical interview in the midst of a panic attack (And got the job!)
Being in therapy
When I spend an afternoon with a friend and her daughter.
When I get triggered driving but don't have to make an immediate U-turn for reassurance.
Been dealing with OCD for nearly 35 years and when it (I’ve Got This Moment) happens I’ll let you know
@ocdmc Hope it’s soon, Lord knows you deserve it.
When I worked out today and kept my routine together.
When I realized the my false memory is possible, like everything else but not probable. And that it didn’t make much sense.
I had a procedure scheduled for tomorrow that I really didn’t feel like I could do because I wanted to eat today and had a headache and I told myself if I called the office they would cancel it forever and drop me as a patient for non-compliance—and then I shut the thought down, laughed, called, and had it changed to two weeks from now and enjoyed some soup after 🤭
When my husband told me he noticed I didn’t panic & spiral (like I’ve done before) with figuring out my medication changes. And then noticing that myself felt really good🙏
when i sat on a cloth surface in a public place and didn’t check everything when i got home
Finishing my degrees, getting certified, and starting my dream profession while dealing with the worst spike I’ve ever experienced.
The first week after I started not engaging in compulsive rumination, I felt great! I still relapse sometimes, but I don’t get so stuck like I used to.
When ERP worked for the first time and my MTOCD got much less frequent.
I didn’t breakdown in front of my friend but I still broke down before I even got there but I didn’t breakdown in front of her when I thought I was going to
I used to have really bad religious ocd and would frantically pray constantly and in a very specific pattern and manner and thought every little mistake I did would cause the end of the world or death of the people I love. I haven't done it since I was a kid and now I'm agnostic so I know there's a way to get over some aspects of OCD and I just need to figure out the rest.
Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?
My earliest memory of OCD was at five years old. Even short trips away from home made me physically sick with fear. I couldn’t stop thinking, What if something bad happens when I’m not with my mom? In class, I’d get so nervous I’d feel like throwing up. By the time I was ten, my school teacher talked openly about her illnesses, and suddenly I was terrified of cancer and diseases I didn’t even understand. I thought, What if this happens to me? As I got older, my fears shifted, but the cycle stayed the same. I couldn’t stop ruminating about my thoughts: What if I get sick? What if something terrible happens when I’m not home? Then came sexually intrusive thoughts that made me feel ashamed, like something was deeply wrong with me. I would replay scenarios, imagine every “what if,” and subtly ask friends or family for reassurance without ever saying what was really going on. I was drowning in fear and exhaustion. At 13, I was officially diagnosed with OCD. Therapy back then wasn’t what it is now. I only had access to talk therapy and I was able to vent, but I wasn’t given tools. By the time I found out about ERP in 2020, I thought, There’s no way this will work for me. My thoughts are too bad, too different. What if the therapist thinks I’m awful for having them? But my therapist didn’t judge me. She taught me that OCD thoughts aren’t important—they’re just noise. I won’t lie, ERP was terrifying at first. I had to sit with thoughts like, did I ever say or do something in the past that hurt or upset someone? I didn’t want to face my fears, but I knew OCD wasn’t going away on its own. My therapist taught me to sit with uncertainty and let those thoughts pass without reacting. It wasn’t easy—ERP felt like going to the gym for your brain—but slowly, I felt the weight of my thoughts dissipate. Today, I still have intrusive thoughts because OCD isn’t curable—but they don’t control me anymore. ERP wasn’t easy. Facing the fears I’d avoided for years felt impossible at first, but I realized that avoiding them only gave OCD more power. Slowly, I learned to sit with the discomfort and see my thoughts for what they are: just thoughts.
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